I have been thinking a lot about “value” and “meaning” lately. Many of us, and most certainly myself, desire a professional life that has a sense of “meaning.” I have been seeking and craving meaning for my entire life. As far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to know what something really “means” and to connect with and be a part of something that has greater “meaning” than myself. A “meaningful” career or [...]

Guilt shows up in some interesting places. This week, as I began a short-term contract position, I encountered what can be described as “The Employed Person’s Guilt Syndrome“. My graduate studies in psychology along with my career development training made identifying lively names for career-related syndromes inevitable. Holding both career and human developmental perspectives required that I also create a “treatment plan” for this identified classification! After engaging in a very pleasant conversation with one [...]

Yesterday evening, I spent almost 3 hours brainstorming with two inspirational young women. We met to create a shared vision, combine our ideas, and pool our efforts to develop a new career and professional development group. The aim of this group is to respond to a need for a new level of professional support and collaboration that will help motivated professionals, like ourselves, skillfully and happily navigate our career paths. About a month ago, the [...]

While using most four-letter words is not the best move on your career path, there are two terms that will require your professional attention. Two of the scariest four-letter words in career development lingo must be G-O-A-L and P-L-A-N. Unlike those other four-letter words that can invoke a sense of giddiness and empowerment, these two little words seem synonymous with killjoy terms like drag and bore. Coincidentally, setting career goals and making action plans have [...]

I kept hitting a wall. Every time I thought about creating a 3 to 5 year career plan, my mind would simply go blank. I had no idea where to start on such a project. In fact, the whole idea of a 3 to 5 year plan seemed like a total drag to me. How the heck was I, a 22 year old, supposed to know what I’d be doing in 3 to 5 years? [...]

“People usually underestimate the influence of their career on their overall wellbeing…If you don’t have the opportunity to regularly do something you enjoy–even if it’s more of a passion or interest than something you get paid to do — the odds of your having a high wellbeing in other areas diminish rapidly.”~Excerpted from Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements (2010) by Tom Rath and Jim Harter. The Gallup organization, which has done extensive research on the [...]

This time last year, I was working as an independent contractor while I waited to start a career development facilitator (CDF) course that began in June. Now, I continue to work as an independent contractor, who has finally gotten clear on what passions she wants to develop in her work as a professional. I began 2009 with two undergraduate degrees, a masters degree, and a decade of diverse professional skills and experience. Yet, I felt [...]

Last month, I read a statistic that 30% of incoming college freshman are first generation college students. That same USA Today article went on to highlight that: “24% [of first generation college students] — 4.5 million — are both first-gens and low income. Nationally, 89% of low-income first-gens leave college within six years without a degree. More than a quarter leave after their first year — four times the dropout rate of higher-income second-generation students.” [...]

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ~ Howard Thurman A couple of weeks ago, I attended a celebration for a friend who gathered her family and friends together to rejoice in the fact that she has spent the last twenty (20) year studying and earning income through teaching yoga, a [...]

Like many adults, I have not walked the locker lined hallways of a high school for some years. What brought me back into that teen-centric world last week? I was invited to exhibit at a local high school career fair honoring National Career and Technical Education month (February). This year’s theme is “Invest in Your Future.” I have absolutely no recollection of a “career fair” happening at my high school and had never heard of [...]